Eastern redbud, El Dorado Hills (3/29/18) John Poimiroo
Many deciduous trees are budding out with blossoms and new foliage, providing for a fresh and colorful spring show.
This Eastern redbud tree (exotic) in our side yard is now flocked with magenta blooms, while Western redbud shrubs in Sierra foothill canyons are carrying rose blossoms.
Although this website is dedicated to fall color, what happens in autumn begins in spring.
So, if you see similarly bright spring foliage, email images to us and we’ll publish them here. editor@californiafallcolor.com
http://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.png00John Poimiroohttp://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.pngJohn Poimiroo2018-03-29 19:24:072018-03-30 08:56:08Fall Color Begins in Spring
Viburnum, LA County Arboretum and Botanic Gardens (11/28/17) Frank McDonough
Cotoneaster carry late autumn berries, LA County Arboretum and Botanic Gardens (11/28/17) Frank McDonough
The Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Gardens in Arcadia owns December.
Over recent years, California Fall Color has consistently received reports and photographs of autumn foliage from this arboretum between mid November and mid December, but it is early December when fall color there is most beautiful.
That is largely consistent among coastal arboretums and botanic gardens, including the UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley, Descanso Gardens, Huntington Botanical Gardens, San Francisco Botanical Garden, Balboa Park Botanical Garden and Wrigley Memorial & Botanic Garden. Though, not all feature as broad a range of varieties with fall color.
At the LA County Arboretum, Frank McDonough, its Botanical Information Specialist and one of our perennial color spotters, will be leading a Fall Foliage Walking Tour of the LA County Arboretum on Saturday, Dec. 2. He worries, however, that this year’s fall color is “way late.” Warm temperatures and dry skies have kept the color from developing, as seen in his photos of cotoneaster and crepe myrtle.
Crepe myrtle show patchy color, LA County Arboretum and Botanic Gardens (11/28/17) Frank McDonough
Frank, who has recorded the beauty of autumn there for years, will be speaking about what triggers the change among the broad mix of foliage to be enjoyed at the LA County Arboretum, including: gingko biloba, fishtail gingko, Eastern white oak, horse chestnut, Japanese maple, Japanese lacquer trees, Daimyo oak, crepe myrtle, sweet gum (liquidambar), sour gum, red maple, Eastern redbud, American elm, Chinese tallow, Chinese parasol trees, Chinese pistache, birch, pomegranate, cotoneaster, California fan palm, tulip trees, sticks on fire, pin oak, Chinaberry, Jerusalem thorn, blaze maple, horned maple, California wild grape, flame leaf sumac and California fan palms.
So, as December arrives, peak color does as well, though this autumn it is late in appearing at the LA County Arboretum and Botanic Gardens in Arcadia.
LA County Arboretum and Botanic Gardens, Arcadia – Patchy
http://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.png00John Poimiroohttp://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.pngJohn Poimiroo2017-11-29 12:54:192017-11-29 14:17:56LA County Owns December
Recent rains have caused mushrooms to push up out of the detritus, as Gabriele Leete found in Anderson.
Amanita, Anderson (11/15/17) Gabriel Leete
Split-gill mushroom, Schizophyllum commune, Anderson (11/15/17) Gabriel Leete
Among the mushrooms emerging are Amanita, among the most poisonous mushrooms on Earth, the most toxic of which cause liver failure and death.
There are 600 varieties of Amanita, including a few edible ones, though eating them is like playing Russian roulette with five bullets in a six-shooter.
Split-gill mushrooms, or Schizophyllum commune, are the only known type of mushroom to retract when touched. They are found on decaying trees during dry periods following a rainfall. Its beautiful gills or “gillies” resemble coral.
Honey fungus, Armillaria mellea, Anderson (11/15/17) Gabriel Leete
Honey fungus, Armillaria spp, Anderson (11/15/17) Gabriel Leete
Sticky when wet, the honey fungus, Armillaria mellea, grows around the base of trees it infects. The mushroom is a plant pathogen that causes root rot in many of the plants it infects, causing discolored foliage, dieback of branches and death, according to Wikipedia.
Psathyrella is a smaller version of Psathyra, Greek for “Friable.” However, do not mistake these for being “fryable,” as they are toxic.
Psathyrella spp, Anderson (11/15/17) Gabriel Leete
OK, you get the idea, they’ve all been given Greek names. Aside from that, what also is common about Psathyrella is that they’re boring.
They are often “drab-colored, difficult to identify, and inedible,” Wikipedia reports, “So they are sometimes considered uninteresting,” perhaps that’s what makes them so fascinating to Gabriel and me.
No, we’re not Greeks, just geeks.
Mushrooms, Shasta Cascade – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
http://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.png00John Poimiroohttp://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.pngJohn Poimiroo2017-11-16 10:35:502017-11-16 10:59:03Pushups in the Woods
Western redbud, cercis occidentalis (11/10/17) Robert Kermen
Eastern redbud, cercis canadensis (11/7/17) John Poimiroo
When it comes to redbud, it’s debatable as to which is prettiest in autumn… East or West.
The eastern variety, cercis canadensis, displays bright gold and green heart-shaped leaves.
Whereas, western redbud, cercis occidentalis, display orange, red, gold and lime heart-shaped leaves.
Both are equally stunning.
Redbud is often overlooked by color spotters who give up looking for great fall color as soon as the forests of aspen have turned, but not Robert Kermen or me.
Robert found western redbud growing along Big Chico Creek in Chico’s Bidwell Park.
Cercis occidentalis are native to the Sierra and North Coast foothills. Native California indians used their barks for basket weaving and as a red dye. In springtime, their showy pink and magenta blossoms grow in clusters all over redbud shrubs that garnish foothill river canyons.
Western redbud, cercis occidentalis (11/10/17) Robert Kermen
Western redbud, cercis occidentalis (11/10/17) Robert Kermen
I have the pleasure of enjoying an Eastern redbud all year long. It grows in my side yard (El Dorado Hills) and provides an inspiring show when autumn light backlights the leaves in kelly green and yellow.
Eastern redbud are a popular landscape and street tree, appreciated for their shape, shade and autumn color (best from late October to early November).
Their heart-shaped leaves flutter in a soft autumn breeze, as if they’re beating.
OK, there’s no debate. East or West, who couldn’t love redbud with all they have to show?
Cercis Occidentalis Range – Wikipedia
Redbud – Peak (75-100%) – Their range forms an upside down fish hook, leading from the SF Bay Area north through wine country and the Redwood Highway, then bending east through Trinity County to the northern Sierra foothills, then south to the Southern Sierra. GO NOW!
Robert Kermen was looking skyward to find these hawks watching him from autumn posts spare of leaves.
Accipiters are the largest genus of birds, writes Encyclopaedia Brittanica, with more than 50 species of falconiform birds.
Kermen found these on one morning in Northern California. Though, many others have been attracted to Northern California to prey on migratory waterfowl.
In autumn, hundreds of thousands of duck, geese and other migratory birds pass through the Central Valley, providing a flying feast for these raptors.
After looking skyward, Robert looked down to see another form of living autumn color in full bloom… exotic Asteraceae, a flower native toSouth Africa.
Gingko biloba, San Rafael (10/29/17) Anson Davalos
Each autumn, maidenhair coifs the streets of San Rafael with bright yellow.
The maidenhair of which we speak are the gingko biloba trees, a good choice to be planted along city streets, not just for their dazzling autumn color, but also because the trees don’t uproot sidewalks and roadways.
Gingko biloba is called a “living fossil,” as it is one of the world’s oldest living species, dating back 270 million years.
Extracts from the gingko are often associated with curing memory loss and sorts of ailments from dementia to Alzheimer’s disease to altitude sickness. Though, it’s never been established, scientifically, that they can do any of this.
And, while gingko seeds are sometimes found in Asian cooking, eaten in large quantities they can be hazardous.
Perhaps someday we will find beneficial uses for the gingko biloba beyond their beauty, though in the first two weeks of November they provide lovely color and form along the streets of San Rafael.
San Rafael – Near Peak (50-75%) – Maidenhair have coiffed the streets of San Rafael. GO NOW!
Tree of Heaven, Ailanthus altissima, Anderson (10/18/17) Gabriel Leete
Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) is less angelic than it is the devil’s work.
It is one of many invasive, non-native species that, once established, takes over the natural landscape preventing native trees from growing.
While beautiful in autumn with its bright red color, Tree of Heaven will produce over 52 million seeds during its 100-year life.
That’s much more than other trees like maples and oaks. And, while oaks will take decades to produce acorns, Ailanthus produce viable seeds in just a few years.
Modern Farmer writes that “the book, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, was about an Ailanthus, using its ability to thrive in cement or garbage, with poor soil, poor light, and poor water supply, as a metaphor.
“If you cut it down, it’ll regrow from its own roots. It also blocks out native plants, altering local ecosystems, partly because it grows so fast and efficiently, and partly because it is allelopathic, meaning that it produces chemicals that inhibit the growth of nearby plants. It isn’t content to just box out native plants; it cheats.”
Native to China, Ailanthus is prized there for its use in traditional Chinese medicines and as a habitat for silk worms.
However, here it has only ornamental value and takes over habitat that would otherwise be populated by native species.
Modern Farmer writes, “Currently, there are no easy options (to eradicate them); some solutions involve hacking notches into the trunk with a machete before applying herbicide, or pulling out the entire root system of younger trees.”
So, enjoy the beauty of Tree of Heaven, but don’t encourage them. There really are devils beneath those angels’ wings.
http://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.png00John Poimiroohttp://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.pngJohn Poimiroo2017-10-20 11:18:202017-10-21 17:23:15Tree of Heaven: The Devil's Work
